A review of low-velocity impact on sandwich structures

This contribution is a review of past and current research progress on dynamic response of composites sandwich structures subjected to low-velocity impact. To obtain a comprehensive overview of the current state-of-the-art published works, impact responses on sandwich structures are broadly classified into two main groups, high-velocity and low-velocity impacts, with the focus on low-velocity impact. A summary of some of the commonly used theoretical solutions for low-velocity impact is provided and described in some details. The response of low-velocity impact has been determined based on mass ratio, which is defined as the ratio of the impact mass to effective mass of the structural component. As a result, the response under low-velocity impact was further subdivided into three possible categories, namely, large, small, and medium mass impacts. For each category of impact, currently available suitable solutions are discussed in details. To classify the response of low-velocity impact and also to explore the energy-absorption characteristics as well, the impact duration is identified as the key parameter. The review concludes with detailed discussions on the damage mechanisms and failure criteria for sandwich structures subjected to impact loads.